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Policy
Policy In General – Have a General Representative with a specific portfolio designated towards first years. Networks: 1. To establish a good relationship between ANUSA an 1st years at ANU 2. To establish a basic understanding of what ANUSA is to the greater ANU population with an emphasis on 1st years. Aim: To establish a good relationship with ANUSA and the student body, with particular emphasis on first year participation, involvement etc. This will also include getting first years involved with other clubs, societies, organisations etc. on campus. The reason for this is the first year of university is tough for several reasons, I want to create a network were ANUSA is involved with helping first years network and create a better relationship with people who will essentially one day run ANUSA, and who would be interested in student representation as well as student politics. Policy: · What is ANUSA? Or ANUSA101 a lecture during O week and maybe Bush Week, which explains the roll of ANUSA to first years. However, attendance is encouraged by all. · Intro to ANUSA Team: who are we? What we do? In the same sort of lecture style as ANUSA101. · Encourage first years to volunteer for events run by ANUSA, such as Bush Week. · Pamphlets in the student space, not just from ANUSA but maybe of events that are running that week, if clubs and societies will comply too this idea. Some people may not join clubs, but are keen to go too events. Communication: 3. Find a good system to communicate and facilitate ANUSA dealings with 1st years. Aim: the aim of this also fits in with networks, however whilst that is about strengthening relationships, with an emphasis on first year relationships and ANUSA, it is important to differentiate that with networks. Communication would be more focused on ways ANUSA can reach first years, to establish relationships and networks and how we can maintain that. Policy: · Most societies I know of affiliated with ANUSA have a first year general member, I believe this is an untapped source of communication. We could use these general members in a way that creates a line of communication and gives them an important role, in what is generally considered an unimportant one. · Accessible office hours, and basically me talking to first years, maybe even having a meeting with any first years willing to come, every semester. Find out concerns that way. Environment: 4. Evaluation of 1st year experience, help improve ‘First Year Experience.’ 5. Create a friendly, comfortable environment for first years Aims: Basically the aim is to create an environment that can be evaluated and is satisfactory for first years. This environmental factor would have me liaising with the Social Officer to create events and environments that can help first year’s network with each other. Policy: · Having certain first year only events, such as ‘speed dating’, picnics, clothes swap (yes I may have stolen this idea), and anything else that is social. · Evaluation by electronic surveys. Basically find out what is problematic with being a first year, and how these problems can be alleviated by ANUSA. Through these three policies of networks, communication and environment means my overall policy will be centred on creating a better experience and environment for first years. Whilst giving them greater opportunity to network with the various people of ANU and ANUSA. I want this policy to be centred on the idea that we are not just working for first years, but with them in what can be described as a tumultuous time for some. Policy – Law Faculty Representative (or General Representative Portfolio) Stacey Little Transparency and reform The Law School Reform’s report Breaking the Frozen Sea was released in late 2010. The central aim of the report was to improve the delivery of legal education at the ANU. How has the Law School responded to the report and what is it doing to implement its recommendations? In the interest of transparency and reform, an open dialogue between students and the Law Faculty should exist to ensure that the report is dealt with in an appropriate and effective manner. To do: • Investigate the Law Faculty’s response to the report and identify what action has been taken in relation to the recommendations. • Create a dialogue between law students and faculty to determine whether any actions that have been taken are appropriate and extensive enough to ensure suitable reform to the legal education provided at the ANU. Expansion The Law Reform & Social Justice program coordinated by the Law School provides an invaluable opportunity for law students to volunteer their time and legal skills to help those in need. It also enables students to gain experience and develop skills in the legal field. The program could provide the above opportunities to far more students and benefit the wider community even further if more resources were allocated. To do: • Research the existing program and its structures to identify where improvements can be made to enable an expansion of the program and the projects that it consists of. • Determine if more resources can be acquired and where best they could be allocated to greater benefit law students and the wider community. WHAT: Run an O-week (and Bush Week) with a greater variety of events so as to engage a wider demographic of students. HOW: 1. Ensure greater involvement from clubs and societies, outside of market day; encourage clubs to run 'normal' events that encourage ongoing participation and lasting engagement rather than big one-off things. (For example, sports groups or DebSoc could run 'come-and-try' sessions during O-week.) 2. Continue to run some alcohol-centred nightclub-type events, but ensure that other events receive equal amounts of attention and funding. 3. Other event ideas: a. fun non-academic classes, e.g. music, dance, parkour(!), knitting, yoga b. serious-but-not-boring non-academic classes, along the lines of 'life skills', such as cooking ('How To Not Live On Indomie For the Next Four Years'), basic car/bike maintenance ('How To Not Get Stuck in Charnwood at 1am'), budgeting/saving money ('How To Not End Up Living in a Cardboard Box'), etc. c. mass volunteering in some (fun) way: perhaps a different project each day (ANU V could coordinate this) WHAT: Provide consistent support to executive members of ANU C&S, particularly through encouraging networking and collaboration between different groups. HOW: 1. Create a Facebook group in which executive members of ANU C&S could easily communicate to organise to find solutions to common problems (e.g. discussing issues such as recruitment), pool resources (e.g. lending equipment or running joint events) and otherwise share information. This group would also serve as an effective barometer for me on what I needed to be working on as Social Officer. Note: As I've said to Galvin and Emma, creating a Facebook group is such a small, easy thing to do that I'm not sure it's really a suitable 'deliverable'. I'm wondering if perhaps I should just go ahead and do it now. 2. Maintain more regular communication with C&S executives through a monthly email newsletter. Content might include notice of upcoming events of interest to execs (e.g. C&S leadership training or meet and greet nights), calls for C&S participation in ANU/ANUSA events (e.g. unclaimed universal lunch hours or Open Day programming), notice of things like GAC deadlines, and perhaps fun things like a 'club of the month' spotlight or a 'leadership tip of the month'. WHAT: Improve the flow of information between ANU C&S and students, so that students know what is available to them (in terms of the events, social networks and other benefits that clubs can provide) and are therefore more likely to participate actively in ANU student life. HOW: 1. Push clubs harder to enter their events into the ANUSA calendar, and put their details on the ANUSA page. (This will involve harassing everyone on the C&S Facebook group and mailing list, and regular sleuthing sessions.) 2. Include a 'clubs and societies' section in every 'What's On Campus' newsletter. 3. Put the ANUSA Facebook page to better use by regularly posting information about upcoming events etc. 4. Have a list of upcoming C&S events on a whiteboard in the Student Space window. Three policy ideas: ''' 1) Promote multiculturalism in ANU. ( international events) Basically, we are going to have one week of international event. We are going to pick 5 major international events such as Chinese New Year, Song Kran Day etc. by emailing ANU students to vote from the list that I’m going to prepare (in that list I will have others as one of the possible choices). Each event will be held in during the week. Location: Union court Labour: We can ask clubs to help us out for this. It is a chance for them to promote their own club and culture. For example, Thai association, Malaysian association etc. I’m pretty sure they will be happy to help out. Cost: Depends on the events that we are going to do. Time: Monday- Friday from 11.00 am – 5.00 pm 2) Cooking & Baking Competition Location: I’m not quite sure whether ANU has any places where there are any ovens/ stoves or cooking materials (food science faculty?). If there is not, then we might be able to contact a cooking school asking to use their venue. Or we can buy what we need as a last resort. Cost: depends on the location Time: Probably on Monday from 10.00 am- 12.00pm and from 13.00 pm to 15.00 pm. Get the winners from each session and have a final competition afterwards on Wednesday probably from 1.00 pm -3.00pm. 3) Interuni sport competition (ANU vs UC?? ANU vs. Sydney uni??) Location: to be decided. ANU?? Maybe we can go to other uni to play there '''General Representative Communications 1. We all have seen the lack of communication integration between ANUSA, clubs and societies, college housing students, unilodge students and off campus students. Basically from my experience being in ANU, I want to add in ANUSA a change where there would be an organized and better system of advertisement and transference of knowledge. Where any unilodge student event would be exposed to every student and not limiting just a particular group, causing segregation of college housing and unilodge students. Also establishing an easily accessible system to be easily notified of any particular events that might suit you such as sports or debating events. Furthermore where there is an appropriate website where any student can access and easily browse and even enroll in any of the clubs and societies. For example when I came here, I had missed orientation week and wanted to join some clubs and society but there was no integrated system to know what types of clubs actually existed. 2. Design a sort of e bay system in ANU where students can sell and buy stuff from one another especially in helping graduate students get rid of what they can’t bring back whilst earning something in return for it. And plus it would be awesome if we could buy cheap and easily accessed stuff within campus from ANU students as we all share almost the same requirement of items for uni-life. 3. Having an auto updating software of the latest discounts and promotions of the supermarkets (Supabarn, Aldis, K-Mart and Big W). Where we can have a website for every ANU and even non ANU students to view the cheapest products and be able to compare it with all the other supermarkets in CIVIC and Belconnen. And where it is possible as well to create our own shopping list. How to do it? Create a website, where students can log in using their student ID and account. Here they would be capable of seeing what’s happening in their halls and other halls. Basically sort of a Facebook website but based within ANU campus, where students themselves can even make their own events and post it up. As well as RSVP and pay through Eftpos on the spot. As well as extra features in the website such as to see events of different clubs and societies. Where in this website they are capable to RSVP on the spot and book their ticket via online through Eftpos. Within that website we can also have the variety of clubs and society that students can be capable of browsing and joining rather than only have one chance to do this which is during the O-week Market Day. Making advertising less costly and tedious. Labour- 2 or 3 People Hours Required- 3 or 4 days (Maximum 1 Week) Resources Required- Laptops and Internet Create a similar buy and sell software system as E-bay with the help of IT experts either those doing their studies here or hiring someone to help us out with it. To ensure that the purchase and sales are successful, the buyers and sellers can further more meet and bring their transactions to, let’s say Student Space to ensure legal transactions with a legal receipt produced to prevent cons or what so ever that would cause unfairness. Set up an up to date website which consists of all the supermarkets in Canberra Centre and Belconnen. Where it would even consist of a buying list where you can select what you want and it can help you auto search all the prices, brands and which supermarket to buy it from. This, I kind of done it, so I can actually just implement it any time already. And how I did it was that I had Supabarn, K-mart, Aldis and Big W weekly send me their updates of any change in prices and their latest promotions in a excel base database. And all I do is update it by copy paste. Plus they had no problems with me doing it as it helped them advertise their products and boost their sales. At the same time some would even pay for their logo to be placed on the front page of the website. Finally why, well I know you want it too! But basically I would use this website to create statistical data to accurately predict the success of any future events and advice the event coordinator the success of the event. Values:' *Grassroots engagement and accessibility: Less than 1.9% undergraduates run for ANUSA elections, regardless of the wealth of talent, intelligence and leadership within clubs and societies, different faculties and amongst the broader student body. So, we firmly believe in create a more open system whereby every dedicated and interested student has a means and a motivation to become involved in student leadership and planning, transforming ANUSA into a body truly representative of more than 8000 students, rather than a select 1.9%. *Student community and consciousness: Because only 1.9% of undergraduates run for ANUSA elections, it is impossible to achieve full representation of the community, and intra-community engagement is restricted by limited representation. So, in order to build greater student community and consciousness it is necessary for us to open the doors of ANUSA to all students, forging a sense of community that binds both international and domestic, law and medicine, college and unilodge, male and female, etc., students together through cultivating shared values and beliefs. Such reform can only be achieved through greater participation of the 98.1% of undergraduates who do not get involved in student elections, in the decision-making process. Community, consciousness and participation can only be forged by making the leadership and policy process more accessible to students, encouraging ideas and thought, and realizing sustainable and beneficial practice and policy. Faculty Representative Ideas': {C}· Creating a system of mentorship within the College of Asia and the Pacific, whereby later year students participating in a SIGN-type mentoring group are partnered with first years undertaking the same language and/or contextual studies major, and thus being able to recommend means of language study, adapting to university life, the changed conditions of continuing language study from high school to university, the expectations of academic report writing, etc. This would basically serve as an extension of the First Year Camp, creating a more mentoring and pedagogical environment, and also create a greater sense of community and connectivity between later-year and first-year students. This would work on a volunteer basis, like SIGN, but would be incentivized by the worthwhile opportunities to create leadership opportunities, supporting first-years in their change to university. {C}· For some later year language courses (especially Chinese), the focus is firmly on textbook-derived study and learning in lectures and at home. Often there are a lot fewer contact hours than in first- and second-year courses, which remain a crucial component of language learning, and are just as valid as students experiment with more complex linguistic forms. In order to balance the desire to exercise language skills and cope with dual degrees and part-time jobs, there should be an option of attending non-compulsory seminars/periods independent of class time, and non-examinable, that merely provide students with an opportunity to interact with tutors/lecturers and native-speaking students, and also develop new skills non included in courses (such as computer literacy in foreign language, referencing, more academic-style writing, literature, film, TV, etc.). Such opportunities would thus be distinguished from club- and society-organised language exchanges through providing opportunities to interact with lecturers and academics and learn new skills, rather than simply practicing the language. Thus, such a service would complement the pre-existing structure of language exchanges. {C}· As a corollary of the above point number 2, digital media should be integrated to a greater extent in the language-learning process, and a more widely-available system of language and cultural exchange could be developed through creating digital pen pals, connecting language students at the ANU with foreign students studying at partner universities overseas. Moreover, such an opportunity would extend knowledge and understanding of the local context, be immensely worthwhile for language practice, and enable students to appreciate the diversity of language and perspectives co-existing within an umbrella language system. For example, Chinese-language students at the ANU could connect via Weibo, video-conferencing, QQ, and other social media to students at universities in mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc.